I still need to sew down the basket handle, join the vines over the basket and add a little flower. . .then do the other two sides! In my self imposed ADD, I got out my Millefiori Mystery Quilt, realizing I was a few weeks behind and ripe for distraction:

So now that I got that out of my system, again I am trying to find a distraction. I think I’m dreading the next step in the Midnight at the Oasis quilt – the churn dash blocks. I may just give one a shot and see if I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. . .probably. . .any churn dash block tips? I would really appreciate it

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/15/how-about-wip-friday/feed/3lalinsocalWIP Wednesday, Midnight at the Oasis. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/12/wip-wednesday-midnight-at-the-oasis/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/12/wip-wednesday-midnight-at-the-oasis/#commentsWed, 13 Nov 2013 07:29:22 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=746A quick progress post, I’m thinking I may be able to stitch a leaf or two before I go to bed, but I’ll take a break because I’m dying to show you how my Midnight at the Oasis QAL is coming along!

I managed to sew all my orange peel blocks together and attach them as a border:

While my machine was in the shop, I managed to finish one of the applique borders, which I promptly attached

and lastly, I just finished basting another piece of the applique border:

I am loving this, not sure if I’ll get the applique border finished for Friday – but I’m going to give it a shot! I’ll be linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. If you get a chance, go ahead and have a look at all the other cool WIPs.

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/12/wip-wednesday-midnight-at-the-oasis/feed/16lalinsocalOrange peel FYIhttps://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/11/orange-peel-fyi/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/11/orange-peel-fyi/#commentsMon, 11 Nov 2013 16:45:26 +0000http://lalinsocal.wordpress.com/?p=728So I’ve only been doing this quilty thing for about a year and I have to admit I feel a little cheeky calling this a tutorial, so how about we just call this “newbie’s got a pretty good idea”. . .

Working on the orange peel blocks from the midnight at the oasis QAL I’ve managed to find my groove when it comes to neat center points:

Looking at my blocks you can actually see how I have improved from one all the way to No. 14 (pictured above) but I have to admit there’s no way I’m going to go back and redo those first ones. . .

To prepare my pieces for basting, I find the center on my block and mark it with a Frixion pen:

and I put in a pin:

I then attach each orange peel onto the pin, you’ll notice below I skewer the orange peel just outside the drawn corner edge.

how’s that Hello Kitty band-aid treating ya?

Then I glue baste, just a little dot dead center.

Once dry, I remove the pin and fold the edge of my first orange peel. Being right-handed I needle turn going to the left, so I begin a couple stitches to the right of the center corner on my first orange peel. This way if I’m a little off I can fudge it just a little bit easier.

In the photo above, the scissors are showing you where the corner point is compared to where the needle is inserted.

Once the first one is done, I select to stitch the orange peel kitty corner to the first.

To make life easier you’ll notice that I pin down the other orange peels so that they’re not in my way.

keep on going. . .

And Bob’s your uncle (well I have an uncle Bob) you get an orange peel that’s a little bit neater than the last.

now, if you’ll excuse me. . .I’ve still got another five to go!

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/11/orange-peel-fyi/feed/8lalinsocalMs Kingwell, please forgive me. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/08/ms-kingwell-please-forgive-me/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/08/ms-kingwell-please-forgive-me/#commentsFri, 08 Nov 2013 16:45:45 +0000http://lalinsocal.wordpress.com/?p=730I must admit to taking a shortcut. . .even though I believe the end result is terribly cool and given a moment or two I could spin this into ‘how I devised a plan as a tribute to some of my favorite fabric designers. . .’ Butter wouldn’t melt, eh? true true. . .

I truly just want to make some headway as I fear I am farther behind than I originally believed. Reviewing the Midnight at the Oasis QAL timeline, I really should have had all of my orange peel blocks completed in order to have linkedmy last post. Oops – insert sheepish grin.

And at present I still have 6 blocks to complete – although I have gotten pretty good at cranking those babies out with a neat point center and am considering putting together a little tips post for Monday. . .

So when my additional background fabric arrived on Thursday, I just knew I should cut the border blocks and start preparing my vines and flowers. . .but when I looked at the corner baskets and the number of HSTs that were involved my tummy did a little flop. . .looking at my gorgeous Keiko Goke hearts fabric. . .I wondered if I could. . .if I should. . .and stopped short of wondering if I would and I did!

I took a little Tula, and some Kitty added a healthy double dose of Keiko and made myself some rather snazzy basket blocks. . .if I do say so myself. . .and I do!

so today I will return to my orange peel blocks, only 6 more to go. . ! Have a brilliant weekend

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/06/wip-wednesday-2/feed/6lalinsocalMidnight at the Oasis QAL. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/31/midnight-at-the-oasis-qal/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/31/midnight-at-the-oasis-qal/#commentsThu, 31 Oct 2013 16:55:13 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=707I watched some great YouTube videos on various paper piecing techniques thinking I could get more even triangles in the first block of the #midnightattheoasisqal. In the end, I re-cut my triangles, used two pins and hand stitched them together – why mess with something that’s not broke?

This routine works for me and I enjoy it!

I’m really taking advantage of using favorite fabrics in favorite colours. . .which means this quilt will be purple with the occasional visit from some blue and green!

Here is my center block done!

I’m kinda crushing on this right now, in total love with my Keiko Goke border. . .I also took some time yesterday to cut some squares. . .

Nipper1 was good enough to keep me entertained with a lesson on the letter ‘E’

. . .while I started pulling the fabrics for the orange peels. . .

I’m thinking this is going to take me a while

Sarah Fielke’s next block will be up soon and I’ve not finished last week’s so i may have to put my orange peels to the side for a few days. . .we’ll see – decisions, decisions. . .oh and I’ll need to post pictures of the #schnitzelandboomysteryquiltswap mini that I completed. I’m waiting for one last thing to arrive and then I can stick it in the post. Sesame Street is just about finished. . .gotta go – Happy Halloween!

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/31/midnight-at-the-oasis-qal/feed/15lalinsocalKeeping busy. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/28/keeping-busy-2/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/28/keeping-busy-2/#commentsMon, 28 Oct 2013 15:30:44 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=700When Sarah Fielke announced she would be having a Mystery QAL with her new fabric line Millefiori, guess who jumped at the chance? You betcha – both feet!

Early last week this arrived, and the QAL was already up to week 3 so I was busy last week getting caught up.

I had fun pushing through the first 3 weeks to catch up:

Gluing my circles to get them ready to be appliqued. . .

Block D

Cleaning up the backs of the applique blocks B and C

First three weeks done!

Now week 4 has been released, but I need to get cracking on a couple projects that got shuffled to the back of the line. . .

these need centers and stems appliqued:

Bring Me Flowers BOM Month 3

and I need to get the center block done by Friday as I’m tagging along in the #midnightattheoasisqal hosted by The Elven Garden or check out the cool button on my sidebar it’ll take you there as well.

Now did you see it right away? . . .or did you have to go back for another look?

Still not sure you see what I see. . ?

I appliqued the stems wrong. . .see, they really should line up with the flower center. . .um, yup. . .those are flowers. . .my benefactor asked the same question.

While I decide if I want to fix those stems first or just go ahead to block 2. . .I’ll stitch this little guy together:

. . .what I call therapy crochet what’s your therapy outlet? do you use another craft to achieve that zen when you make a goof? Oh and for those new to the blog, I affectionately call my husband my benefactor

I allowed myself to open the package, look at the fabric, marvel at the fact that I would never have picked them and then forced myself to put them away – there were a few things that needed finishing first.

1st up was block two of my Sarah Fielke Jazz Hands:

Jazz Hands block 2

I’m kinda crushing on this one. . .already have a fabric pull for the next block.

2nd were some extra teacups using (yes, a bit of an obsession) Sarah Fielke’s pattern. I have a few more planned and then I’ll consider making the teapot. . .

Teacup 1

Teacup 2

3rd was a plan I had for some BusyTown panel fabric.

Book Panel

I thought this was a great idea when I snagged the panel, it’s originally supposed to be used to make a soft book. Nipper1 loves busyTown, but she’s more interested in books with stories etc., so I thought maybe I could do something a little different and ensure we could use these panels in our everyday. . .

I used some of the pearl bracelets fabric left over from the Bloom Bllom Plow (still not finished – oh well)

I then added some polkadot lining fabric and some more ribbon from mammafairy. . .

and from what would have been a 6 page book, turned into 4 drawstring bags and 2 pouches!

Ta-dah!

and those of you who stopped by on Monday, know that they are already being put to good use. Phew. . .that was a lot of work

Guess what, it was all done by Saturday evening and i started cutting templates. . .

Sunday i was cutting fabric and

doing a little hand sewing, oh I do enjoy hand piecing but I’ll save that for Friday. . .I may have even more done